Sunday, May 24, 2009

Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers the two most unlikely sides given how they fared in last year they both placed at the bottom last year will face each other in the second season of the Indian Premier League final tonight.

The second season of the Indian Premier League RP Singh is the leading wicket taker with 22 wickets against the latest young star to emerge. Manish Pandey has back to back two Man of the Match awards on the trot. In last match during his century Pandey faced nine balls from RP, and took 20 runs, including a huge six over long-on.

Bangalore Royal Challenger's transformation has been one of the great stories of this second season of the Indian Premier League. Under Kumble, Bangalore Royal Challengers have performed united, almost above themselves and they have won four in a row and can rightfully stare Chennai Super Kings in the eye.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Viru was in high spirits after his team snatched an unlikely win against Deccan Chargers on Wednesday. The probability of Kings XI Punjab repeating last season's performance of making the semifinal is extremely low. They are currently second from the bottom in the second season of the IPL.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Symonds has made the batting look even more powerful, but the bowling minus RP Singh and P Ojha is a concern. A brutal 60 in just 36 balls marked an excellent debut for Symonds in second season of the Indian Premier League.

Amit Singh unfortunately has been reported for a suspect action for the second time this season and second bowler form Rajasthan Royals after Kamran Khan to come under scrutiny.

Herschelle Gibbs has made 204 runs this second season of the Indian Premier League, but only 22 in his last five, including three ducks.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Royal Challengers Bangalore seemed to be improving till their bating fell part in the last few games, but they're still prone to collapsing as they showed against Rajasthan Royals thus putting far too pressure on the bowlers.

Mumbai Indians seem to be hitting a new low with every game. Goofed up by leaving out Sanath Jayasuriya in the last match against Delhi.

Sachin Tendulkar's form with the bat has dipped lately, and his last 5 innings have only fetched 63 runs. In his first 3 innings he scored 163 runs.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

The last time this rematch of first season of the Indian Premier League final happened, both the teams were languishing in middle-and-lower part of the points table. Chennai Super Kings want Orange cap leader Matthew Hayden and Suresh Raina to play as many overs as possible. Rajasthan Royals want get Matthew Hayden, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni early.

Deccan Chargers will be happy with this score 168 loss of the five wickets, considering those quiet overs in the few overs either side of the time out. But Symonds changed everything with some savage shots make 89 runs off 58 balls (8 x 4, 6 x 6) and Rao supported him well with some boundaries off his bat.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Mumbai Indians had themselves to blame for the collapse against Deccan Chargers which deprived them of a spot in the semi final.

Deccan Chargers too started off with a bang, but have experienced a roadblock in the middle stages in second season of the Indian Premier League. But their caption Adam Gilchrist seems to be enjoying every moment of this up and down race.

"It’s not much about a six hitting competition, it's a game of steel between bat and ball which has been pretty exciting to watch. When you have got 8 teams with such world class players and exciting talent form India in such even conditions, it's bound to be a real cliffhanger," Gilchrist said.